Mozilla Takes Lead Over Microsoft In Fight Against Phishing

A survey authorized by Mozilla grants Firefox 2 a huge victory over Microsoft's IE 7 in the fight to bar ID thieving scam sites, however both Web browsers still fall short when faced against working phishing addresses.

The survey discovered that Firefox in its strongest form barred 81.5 per cent of total phishing sites. Internet Explorer 7 sank 66.35 per cent of the phishing activities. In 117 cases Firefox couldn't block a phishing site while IE7 did arrest it. The Microsoft browser allowed 243 URLs to pass through that a Firefox browser could block.

Employing the services of 1,040 confirmed phishing sites from the PhishTank community site, the survey observed that Firefox 2's limited blacklist property barred almost 79 percent of the malevolent sites from bombing. In contrast, IE 7's whitelist-founded Auto Check impeded only 16 strikes.

Window Snyder, Mozilla's security chief held that the trial was a part of the company's quality control procedure and affirms that both local plus remote security methods provide enhanced security than Microsoft's main browser.

Snyder admitted in an interview, that IE 7 was a "remarkable development" over IE 6 but reasoned that clients are more secure against phishing strikes while employing Firefox.

"Security-wise, IE 7 is better. The spotlight on safety [in both browsers] implies that the client is better shielded. The key thought is the attention to safety in these announcements", asserted Snyder. "Nabbing phishing sites is very tough, as they are unpredictable in nature. We're including an additional layer of security to caution users regarding possible phishing websites."

Experts say Mozilla is attempting to change the subject of browser safety from Microsoft, which just introduced Internet Explorer 7 (IE 7) to the recent issue of Firefox.

SmartWare, the software testing firm, completed this survey in two-weeks. They also dedicated a win to Firefox 2 in the Ask Google alternative, which does an instantaneous test against a blacklist of dubious sites offered by Google.

The September survey report by Microsoft, grants top grades to Internet Explorer 7, without examining Firefox 2, but likened the browser to a chain of third party security programs. The Microsoft survey was conducted by 3Sharp, which specializes in message design that doesn't have any repute in market analysis and security review.